The Cabinet of Ministers led by the Prime Minister Pavel Filip visited Leova today, where they had a meeting with the representatives of local public administration and business environment. During the meeting the local decision-makers had an efficient dialogue with the Prime Minister and other members of the Cabinet, informing the central authorities on the problems of communities in Leova rayon. During the same day, the Prime Minister visited the construction site of Leova-Iargara water main pipeline implemented by the German Development Cooperation through GIZ in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment of the Republic of Moldova and financially supported by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the European Union, the Romanian Government, the Swedish Government and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
In the course of discussions, the representatives of local authorities tackled several issues, some of which were solved on the spot. Thus, upon the request of local authorities it was decided to establish in Sarateni village a firefighter and rescue unit. For this purpose, a building which is property of SE ‘Moldsilva’ will be transferred, so the rescue teams reach faster those in need of help. Among problems discussed with local authorities was, also, the need to renovate the health Centre in Iargara. The Prime Minister requested that this issue is examined as a priority.
The support of the authorities was, also, requested for the construction of the bridge Leova-Bumbata across Prut River. Pavel Filip mentioned that this matter will be discussed at the joint meeting of the Governments from Chisinau and Bucharest which will take place in the nearest future. Other addressed issues referred to poor quality management of passenger transport routes, shortage of teaching and health professionals, subsidising farmers and the need to build a regional agroindustrial market.
Pavel Filip urged the representatives of local public administration to come with initiatives to improve the lives of people from localities, assuring them of central public administration support in their implementation.
Additionally, the prime minister stated that the efforts of the central public administration are still oriented towards the improvement of infrastructure in the localities. In this context, Pavel Filip mentioned that via the programme ‘Drumuri bune pentru Moldova’ (Good roads for Moldova), in Leova rayon 22 km of road will be rehabilitated, the total value of works is in the amount of MDL 36 million. Relating to this, LPA representatives mentioned that there is an urgent need to repair the road Leova-Leuseni. The Prime Minister requested that this road is included into the list of priority roads to be reconstructed, identifying further funds for this purpose.
The economic operators from Leova rayon, in turn, took the opportunity to inform the central authorities about the difficulties they face in their activity. They mentioned such aspects as: lack of internal sales market for agricultural products, problems in clearing uncultivated agricultural lands, excessive taxation on importing efficient agricultural equipment, shortcomings in accessing European grants and losses incurred as a result of disconnecting economic operators from electricity.
During discussions the Prime Minister appreciated the diversity and specific nature of businesses developed in Leova rayon, where over 8 000 small and medium companies are registered, most of them – agricultural enterprises. The Prime Minister reiterated that the Government’s efforts are directed towards improving the investment climate in the country and opted for an efficient dialogue with entrepreneurs from the region to find out from the primary source about the fields where the Government could interfere to facilitate their work.
During the same visit, the Prime Minister visited the construction site of the main water pipeline Leova-Iargara where he took note of the current situation in the implementation of the concerned project and of objectives to be reached in order to ensure the access of over 20.000 citizens from the South of the country to modern water supply and sewage services, thus preventing environment pollution and reducing risks for public health.
The head of the Government was informed by Dorin Andros, State Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment and Maria Culesov, director of South Regional Development Agency on the progress of works which began at the beginning of this year and are to be completed in October. Within the project a water pipeline 22,9 km long will be constructed, as well as two pumping stations and one re-pumping station. Additionally, the drinking water treatment plant will be modernized, two underground water tanks will be rehabilitated and two water tanks will be built.
Immediately after the completion of the construction, Iargara locality with a population of around 4.000 inhabitants will be connected to the main water pipeline in the first phase. In the second phase with sources allocated by EU Filipeni, Romanovca and Cupcui villages will get connected. The connection of all localities is planned by the end of 2020.
The Prime minister stressed that providing localities in the country with water is a pressing need and a priority of the Government. At the same time, Pavel Filip pointed out to the importance of efficient use of available sources, specifying that the projects’ success depends not only on the volume of allocated funds, but, also, on managerial capabilities of persons running them.
The total value of works is of around EUR 3 million or over MDL 60 million, of which EUR 2.4 million are provided by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany via the German Development Cooperation through GIZ and EUR 600.000 are provided from the National Fund for Regional Development (NFRD) and Leova Rayon Council.
It should be noted, that the main water pipeline Leova-Iargara which is going to be constructed is a component part of the ‘Modernization of Water Supply Local Public Services in Leova Rayon’ project, which is an investment measure under a big project ‘Modernization of Local Public Services in the Republic of Moldova’ (MLPS) implemented by GIZ in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment and financially supported by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the European Union, the Romanian Government, the Swedish Government and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
